Life belt projectile



* w. B. KOCHNER ET AL.

Feb. 7, H950 LIFEBELT PROJ ECTILE 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June '7, 1945Patented Feb. 7, 1950 umso arruinar@ PRomarmen`assrgnmentattoflnapp-Monarcli. Company, St; Iiua, M,j,a corporation. oiDelaware' Our presenti-i inven-tion .relates1to. a. proj ectilez.

that. can. betriiredzffrom a. grenade: launchers] or thelika.thefprolectile.` containing a lifebeltwhich. is automaticallyintlatedlby means .of bulbscontaining gas-under. highpressure. n

One objectv of, the'cinventi-on 1ste. provide.'V a. projectile that. islsoydesignedl. that itcan beuSedl in. connection. with a grenade.launcher oi the. kind that'vmay be. clamped to arieba-rrel.,

Another-object is toprlzulidesa projectile confv taining a l-ife'lbeltwhich is, selfiinrlatablel upon the .proj vectile. stri king ,theVWater.

Still kanother: object isto. provideha'. projectilelin. the form di aVcontainer, irl-:Which a. collapsible life 1 belt max/@ be.A packed.with.l bulbs-ofcarbon. dioxide or the like associated therewith insuchmanner that4v the. projectile upon striking., the' wateroperatesla-me'chanism. for releasing. the gas` from thebulbs.andpermittingit .to escape into the life belt forinating itn K VAfurther objectv is to L )ioVid'ell a lite belt prof-- jectilev which.canbe projected. agconsiderable distance overthe water top a man.overboard whereby itv is feasible tolproi/idelhimwith a. life belt even.though .the ship may have' proceeded v a considerabledistance beyond;his nosition. e

, Still afurther object is toprovde a; projectile having. springnvound'mechanisms for operating piercing pins. for the inating bulbs, .catchesbeing v -:=laun cher.1 rv s v U kThe. housing it; at'itsforti/'ardendihasl a` cap-v providedior. the mechanismsso thatV theywarenormally heldinretraeted positions' and'may bei released: fonoperatingthe; piercing .ltriiqis'lirylY the noseoi thelprojectil'estrikingtlzielyv'at'e'r'L A K With. theseand other Obiectsfinoview,ojir'yi'ri;l vention. consists in the construction, arrangement andcombination.. ofthe various4 part'sof. our dez-' vice; wherehythvobjectscontainplatedl are at' tained., as hereinaft'enmore iull-y setfforth,pointed out in our claims, and'illustrated the' accom# partyingdrawings', .wherein L Figure 1 is a side elevation ofj'a projectile. offthe kind here under consideration showing it' mounted on a grenadelauncher and ready for firing, upon. removal of.; a safety pin.,therefrom. Figure 2y isi an, enlargedsectionai vievv` ointhe' linef 2-2offligur l, this; figurebeingapproxi' mately full scale; Y A Y Figure 3asectionalvlewon the' line. 343 of Figurez.,

Figure 4. isan. enlarged, sectional View of the rear. end of thepr'oljec itilfelshowing' it. associated Withtheerwaide'lunher j Figuresaand @are sectional/.viensonth'elins 5-*4-5 and G--respectively of.Figure' 2'; l and Figura? is;a.sectionaly View on the line. le-"lf ci?"liigure` 6- showing arelease mechanism.

Gn the accompanying drawings,A We. the reference numeral ll;- toindicate a housing? formed of cardboard orY similar light material whichis oapableof disintegrationby contact with' water and capable oibeingtorn apart by pressure produced therein by means.. o a' lifdbelt beingriniiatedbygaslunder highpressure. l The housingV i lunas an endA platel2v secured thereto in anyv sui-table. manner, atubeflibeing securedtogtha end plate I2. A' reinforcement at thefjoint'fbe-v tweenA theftubeI4. andthe end plate l2 is shown'l at..l.5'. Y

Theftube ,ll' ,I of vsuoli size that'itioan ftoverv a grenade launcherl5 of thel kindusually provided for clampingto'ariebarrel 2B..Tlfie'clarnpl is,.show.n at-Z'Zl and the clamp action is usually`eiectedfby a Wingnut 26. on a bolt 26; These-f E grenade launchers aredesigned for the purpose' of, launching grenades byV means ofltheghighgas pressure produced'bya rifleas distinguished Vfrornr handlaunching,the grenades. and serve'admir ablyy in the presentihstance as. al meanstolauncl'ithe housingh lil through the air from a ship' to` a man"overboard. A grenade launcher is usually provided With a coil spring 28Whichrservestofric-I ti'on'all'y4 engage thet'ube hl and hold'thehousing lf;l against.' accidentally falling off the grenade like,vcover' which is secured" ja screw l3'2 to a; sleeve'- 3.431 'lhesleevef'3giisslidable on` a" rodfS'E; andE hasan internal shoulder 381 betweenwhic'lrj and.the.roda spring lll is positioned. A screw"illisthreadedintoithe rod'with its head against the .sho.u tder"38;VV'll'iis provides for. limiting the outward telescoping'of the tubefliontherod 3G and permits its inward telescoping against the" action' ofthespring 40;

The' rod 3B" is'secured Vasby aj nut-4s to'a framef d?" with av pair of*crossi members lil' against'thef frame and the nut. The crossmemlcqers'iI are? partcfapair of hubs: 482 hesehubs terminate inhousingsSffor bulbs 52 Whiclfrtslooselythere? in and which. are'adapted l to'containn gas such' as r` Ci'Ozpor thelikeunderhigh.pressure.

Screwed'intoithethubs 68r` arezsleeves 53, gaskets-j 54" beinginterposed'between' the two4 forI sealingA purposes. ,Eachl sleeve `53`is sealed relative toI atmosphere byja diaphragm 5l? carrying pieroingpin 58;4 A' diaphragm retainer disc 'til backs' upthediaph'ragm' 5t. Yu

s 'Each piercingr pin'K 53 has" an operating-mechaanism. iii/hielt.Willvnow be' described'. A leverA 64'9- haszelusediv is pivoted on a pin 62and is constrained from the full line position to the dotted lineposition of Figure 3, by -means of a spring 64 coiled around a hub 66supported by ears 68 extending from a plate 3. The plate is secured tothe frame 43 with a spacer 45 between the two.

The lever El is adapted to be manually moved from the'dotted lineposition to the full line position and then latched by a latch finger 'Iof a bell crank lever having arms l2 and i4. The bell crank lever ispivoted on a pin I6 carried by ears 18 extending from the frame 46 andis normally constrained to the latched position shown in Figure 3 by aspring Sil. The lower end of the lever 'i4 enters a notch 82 in the rod36 and is located back of the inner end of the sleeve 34.

The sleeve 34 is provided with an opening 34 through which a safetylocking pin 8S is normally positioned. The cap 30 has a pair of openings88 to accommodate the pin and the pin has a wire and lead seal Si) tonormally retain it in position.

Practical operation In the operation of my life belt projectile, it isplaced on the grenade launcher as shown in Figure l and the seal 9i!then broken and the pin 85 removed.' The pin normally serves as a safetymeans to prevent accidental inflation of the life belt as by pushing thecap 30 inwardly on the tubular housing Ill.

The rie barrel 20 is aimed toward the person to receive the life beltand the riil-e fired Which builds up high pressure due to the explodinggases within the grenade launcher i8, thereby driving the tube lll oithe launcher and projecting the entire device a considerable distance ora short distancerdepending upon the aim. When the cap 30 strikes thewater the concussion causes the cap to move rearwardly, thereby causingthe sleeve 34 to press inwardly on the levers "i4, causing them toassume the dotted position in Figures 2, 6 and '7.

This releases the levers 6l so that they are driven by the springs 64through a half revolution and end up at the dotted position shown inFigure 6. pins 58 into the bulbs 52 thereby releasing the gas whichescapes from the bulb housing U through slots 5| into the life beltsections 53a. Two of these sections are provided so that if one failsthere is still a chance for the other one to inflate,

The life belts 53a are usually made of canvas and may be wound as shownin Figure 1 to fit compactly withinthe cardboard tube I8. The watertends to disintegrate the cardboard and the inilating life belt tears itapart thereby releasing the belt which can thereupon be procured by theman overboard and he can strap it around himself.

The sleeves 53 can be removed for replacing the bulbs when adjusting thedevice for subsequent use after it has served its purpose. The life beltmay then be associated with a new assembly of the housing I il and itsattached parts l2, I4 and I 6, and the locking pin 86 is placed inposition and sealed.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of thevarious parts of our life belt projectile without departing from thereal spirit and purpose of our invention, and it is our intention tocover by our claims, any modified forms of structure or use ofmechanical equiva- This operation drives the piercing.

4 lents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a life belt projectile of the character described, a tubularcontainer of disintegratable material, an inflatable life belt securedin one end of said vcontainer 'and normally collapsed and tted in saidcontainer, a compressed gas bulb secured in said end of said containerand adapted to have communication with said life belt, a swingable levermounted adjacent and adapted to pierce said bulb, latch'means fornormally retaining said lever in inoperative position, a rod securedadjacent said latch means and extending longitudinally of saidcontainer, and a cap slidable on said rod, said cap being adapted toslide on said rod and release said latch means upon the projectilestriking a body of Water.

A2. In a life belt projectile of the character described, a tubularcontainer of disintegratable material, a plurality of inflatable lifebelt sections secured in one end of said container and normallycollapsed and tted in said container, a compressed gas bulb for each ofsaid belt sections securedvin said end of said container and adapted tohave communication with their respective belt sections, a swingablelever mounted adjacent and adapted to pierce each of said bulbs, latchmeans for normally retaining said levers in inoperative position, a rodsecured adjacent said latch means and extending longitudinally of saidcontainer, and a cap slidable on said rod, said cap being adapted toslide on said rod and release said latch means upon the projectilestriking a body of water.

3. In a life belt projectile of the character described, a tubularcontainer of disintegratable material, an inflatable life belt securedin one end of said container and normally collapsed and fitted in saidcontainer, a compressed gas bulb secured in said end of said containerand adapted to have communication with said life belt, a swingable levermounted adjacent and adapted to pierce said bulb, a rod secured adjacentsaid swingable lever and -extending longitudinally of said container, asleeve slidable on said rod, a cap secured on said sleeve andtelescoping over said container, and latch means for normally retainingsaid lever in inoperative position, said latch means` comprising a bellcrank lever having one arm adapted to engage said swingable lever andthe other arm adjacent said rod and adapted for engagementl by saidsleeve, said cap being movable telescopically over said container andthereby slidingsaid sleeve on said rods aid sleeve on sliding on, saidrod adapted to rock said bell crank lever and release said swingablelever.

4. In' a life beltprojectile, a housing of disini'l tegratable material,means extending from oney end of the housing for association withagrenade launcher, acollapsible life belt within said housing, mountingmeans on said life belt adjacent the other end of said housing, a bulbof compressed gas on said mounting means and adapted to havecommunication with said life belt, a piercing Apin movably mounted insaid mounting means'an'd'arranged for puncturing said bulb,

means movably mounted on said mounting meansfor striking said piercingpin, latch means for retaining said striking means in inoperativeposition, spring means biasing said striking means to operativeposition, and a cap movably mounted on said mounting means'andtelescopieally associated with said housing and adapted to release saidlatch upon the cap striking the Water.

5. In a life belt projectile, a housing of disintegratable material,means extending from one end of the housing for association with agrenade launcher, a collapsible life belt Within said housing, mountingmeans on said life belt adjacent the other end of said housing, acontainer mounted on said mounting means and extending into said lifebelt, said container having an opening communicating, with said lifebelt and being sealed to the exterior, a bulb of compressed gas in saidcontainer, a piercing pin movably mounted in said mounting means andextending into said container adjacent said bulb and adapted to puncturesaid bulb, means movably mounted on said mounting means for strikingsaid piercing pin, latch means for retaining said striking means ininoperative position, spring means biasing said striking means tooperative position, and a cap movably mounted on said mounting means andtelescopically associated with said housing and adapted to release saidlatch upon the cap striking the Water.

6. In a life belt projectile of the character disclosed, a tubularcontainer, a tube extending therefrom in which gases of explosion mayexpand and cause projection of the projectile to a distant point, a capon said container and movable relative thereto, an inflatable life beltwithin said tubular container, a compressed gas bulb also in saidcontainer, means enclosing said bulb and communicating with said lifebelt, whereby on puncturing said bulb the gas therefrom ows into saidlife belt, movable piercing means mounted in said container adapted topuncture said bulb, a pivoted lever mounted in said container, a latchfor said lever, a spring for propelling said lever about its pivot whensaid latch is released, and an operative connection between said cap andsaid latch for releasing the latch When the cap moves relative to saidtubular container by impingement of the cap with a body of Water.

7. In a life belt projectile, ahousing of disintegratable material, acollapsible life belt within said housing, a bulb of compressed gas insaid housing, means enclosing said bulb and communicating with said lifebelt, whereby on puncturing said bulb the gas therefrom flows into saidlife belt, means for piercing said bulb, means for actuating saidpiercing means, said actuating means being movable to inoperativeposition and f to operative position, latch means for retaining saidactuating means in inoperative position, means biasing said actuatingmeans to operative position, and a cap movably mounted on said housing,said cap having operative connection with said latch means, said cap onstriking the Water being adapted to release said latch means.

WILLIAM B. KOCHNER. LAWRENCE T. WARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 701,329 Graham June 3, 1902978,378 Ingaramo Dec. 13, 1910 1,235,076 Stanton July 31, 1917 1,316,296Gathmann Sept. 16, 1919 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 481,254Great Britain Mar. 8, 1938

